Tim Berners-Lee

Tim Berners-Lee: Web Access Is a “Human Right”

by Robert Quigley | 3:43 pm, April 13th

“Access to the Web is now a human right … It’s possible to live without the Web. It’s not possible to live without water. But if you’ve got water, then the difference between somebody who is connected to the Web and is part of the information society, and someone who (is not) is growing bigger and bigger.”

–Tim Berners-Lee, creator of the World Wide Web, speaking at a recent MIT symposium.

(via NetworkWorld. pic via Wikipedia)

The Carbon Footprint of Email

by Robert Quigley | 10:20 am, October 21st

In addition to being a successful environmental consultant, Mike Berners-Lee is, according to The Guardian, the brother of World Wide Web creator Tim Berners-Lee. So it seems fitting that, along with Guardian journo Duncan Clark, he’s undertaken to calculate the carbon footprint of email.

But email is all online, so it can’t have an environmental impact, right? Not so: According to the pair, an average year’s worth of email for a business user has a footprint of 135 kg of carbon: “over 1% of of a relatively green 10-tonne lifestyle and equivalent to driving 200 miles in an average car.”

Read on...

AND LET IT BE KNOWN

A Chicken in Every Pot, and A Webpage for Every Citizen

by Susana Polo | 4:03 pm, March 21st

Yes, we know Hoover wasn’t British.

On Monday, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will announce a four year initiative to go paperless. That is, to make every possible interaction between British citizens and their government into something you can do online.

From the Times:

The aim is that within a year, everybody in the country should have a personalised website through which they would be able to find out about local services and do business with the Government. A unique identifier will allow citizens to apply for a place for their child at school, book a doctor’s appointment, claim benefits, get a new passport, pay council tax or register a car from their computer at home.

The savings on paper, postage, and physical government offices are expected to be in the billions.

Read on...

14 of the Best Geekiest Beers

Given beer's pervasive place in human history, it's not surprising that the geeky pastimes of drinkers would eventually rub off on the beers themselves. The result is a veritable cornucopia of nerdy beers, 14 of which are right here.

Tweetosystem

Eric Limer I'm trying to come up with a control scheme where I can use my xbox 360 controller for leisurely web surfing. It's....interesting.
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James Plafke For a show about a sport I don't really dig, Friday Night Lights is an alright show.
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Eric Limer Just spent a few hours playing Kyntt. Stunning, cute little game. Highly recommended.
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Max Wanna create work flows, wanna make it all work work work.
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James Plafke I am jealous Elmo got to make out with Kristin Chenoweth.
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Eric Limer I swear under my breath A LOT. This must make people near by me very uncomfortable. That being said, I have no intentions of stopping.
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Max Court is now in session at the Burp Castle.
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Eric Limer I don't look at my finances as often as I should which is the main reason why I don't often want to look at my finances.
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Max Desert PolyBus: The game where you drive to Reno and then die.
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Eric Limer If I wrote a webcomic, every strip would be titled "Get it? GET IT?!"
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Max Got chili oil on my hands and face. It hurts. A lot.
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Eric Limer Suddenly I remember what I hate about PC gaming. Mainly never having a computer that can actually do it.
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James Plafke The halftime show taught me that football-watching men drinking beer who love seeing muscular men beat each other up really like to vogue.
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Max Pestering your friends at 8am is how you show you care, right? #hopeso
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Eric Limer Twitter is like RiffTrax for EVERYTHING.
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James Plafke I know global warming is scary, but not having a winter was pretty cool. I didn't have to spend money on shoes for the snow.
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Eric Limer I hereby apologize to all persons --past, present and future-- who have the misfortune of hearing me "sing" dubstep songs.
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Max Even Facebook's Timeline thinks I could have done more with my life.
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Max I did that thing where Facebook turns your Timeline into a movie. Mine had pictures of ducks and foliage set to really dramatic music.
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Max "But I don't wanna go to the dog show!"
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